The Forest.

The White Pine in Europe.

T HE White Pine was among the very first American trees which came to Europe, being planted in the year 1705 by Lord Weymouth on his grounds in Chelsea. From that date, the tree has been cultivated in Europe under the name of Weymouth Pine; in some mountain districts of northern Bavaria, where it has become a real forest tree, it is called Strobe, after the Latin name Pinus strobus. After general cultivation as an ornamental tree in parks this Pine began to be used in the forests on account of its hardiness and rapid growth, and it is now not only scattered through most of the forests of Europe, but covers in Germany alone an area of some 300 acres in a dense, pure forest. Some of these are groves 120 years old, and they yield a large proportion of the seed demanded by the increasing cultivation of the tree in Europe.

The White Pine has proved so valuable as a forest tree that it has partly overcome the prejudices which every foreign tree has to fight against. The tree is perfectly hardy, is not injured by long and severe freezing in winter, nor by untimely frosts in spring or autumn, which sometimes do great harm to native trees in Europe. On account of the softness of the leaves and the bark, it is much damaged by the nibbling of deer, but it heals quickly and throws up a new leader.

The young plant can endure being partly shaded by other trees far better than any other Pine tree, and even seems to enjoy being closely surrounded, a quality that makes it valuable for filling up in young forests where the native trees, on account of their slow growth, could not be brought up at all.

The White Pine is not so easily broken by heavy snowfall as the Scotch Pine, on account of the greater elasticity of its wood. The great abundance of soft needles falling from it every year better fits it for improving a worn-out soil than any European Pine, therefore the tree has been tried with success as a nurse for the ground in forest plantations of Oak, when the latter begin to be thinned out by nature, and grass is growing underneath them.

And finally, all observations agree that the White Pine is a faster growing tree than any native Conifer in Europe, except, perhaps, the Larch. The exact facts about that point, taken from investigations on good soil in various parts of Germany, are as follows:

Years.Height.Annual Growth During Last Decade.
The White Pine at20 reaches7.5 meters.37 centimeters
“30 “12.5 “50 “
“40 “18.5 “60 “
“50 “22.5 “40 “
“60 “26.5 “40 “
“70 “28.5 “20 “
“80 “30.0 “15 “
“90 “32.0 “20 “

For comparison I add here the average growth on good soil, of the Scotch Pine, one of the most valuable and widely distributed timber trees of Europe.

Years.Height.Annual Growth During Last Decade.
The Scotch Pine at 20 reaches7.3 meters.36.5 centimeters
“ 30 “11.6 “43.0 “
“ 40 “15.7 “41.0 “
“ 50 “19.4 “37.0 “
“ 60 “22.1 “27.0 “
“ 70 “24.0 “22.0 “
“ 80 “26.0 “17.0 “
“ 90 “27.5 “15.0 “
“100 “28.5 “10.0 “
“120 “30.0 “ 7.5 “